Motor shows can do cars an injustice, writes Brian Byrne. Sometimes they just don't look right in the flash and hype of a dressy stand.
That's the case with the Fiat 500L, which I have just experienced briefly in the metal where any car should be, on the road.
And whereas I mentally dissed it as ugly when I first saw it at Geneva, the 500L is actually quite a handsome beast in real light on a city street.
It's the next stage of a programme of variants coming out of the 500 'brand'. And if you thought it was just a stretched version of the very successful city car, well, you're wrong.
Think of what Mini did with the Countryman. Then add more space, keep the gentle funkiness of the original car, and here's a real Italian job contender for the title of the roomiest small family car.
Marginally longer than a Punto, but substantially taller, the 500L will change a number of arguments in the sector. The most important being that you have to compromise on space and keep generally in the supermini footprint.
They say, and I found it today to be true, that you can accommodate five 6-footers comfortably in the 500L, and have enough room left for luggage for each.
They stress the airiness of the car, with great visibility all round, and in a jaunt around Turin, where you have to be able to see them cominatcha from all angles, that is also true.
They talked about 'growing up', and this is a grown-up 500, targeted to a different buyer than the swinging singles who have taken the small 500 to their hearts.
It could have been frumpy, which is what I thought at the motor show. But it isn't. The current generation has always been cool, and they claim this one is too. And they may be right, I'm thinking. A young family could consider it cool enough, with its touchscreen entertainment and communications management that will also handle Twitter and Facebook through the UConnect successor to the 'Blue and Me' that Fiat have promoted through recent years.
The dad will go for the optional high-end sound system from American brand leader Beats, and maybe also for the funkiest option yet, an espresso coffee-maker from top Italian brand LavAzza. With a special place to install it, and the specially branded cups and mugs and the coffee storage itself.
On the run through and above Turin, the 1.3 diesel version which will be the Irish market powertrain of choice trundled the 500L handily in traffic, and around hilly villages. It performed well in the kind of environment where it will be mostly used, as a family runabout. One with some charm.
No prices yet, until closer to when the 500L gets to Ireland at the end of the year. But Italians are getting it for €15,550 from now. That's a very entry level price, though—for Ireland it's likely that the diesel engine and local taxes will put the car somewhere a bit above €20,000.
And there's more from the 500 'brand' coming down the line. A crossover styling model version was sneaked by us, the 500X which will a direct competitor for the likes of the Nissan Juke and rolls out in early 2014, and there'll also be a 7-seat version by the end of next year.
More when I get to think about it. But with Fiat expecting to soon reach the millionth current generation 500 ... two thirds of sales so far are outside Italy ... extending their winning way in this manner seems a good move.
